Several tropical species, notably of the genus Pteroptyx, are of local economic importance. Their displays will self-synchronize until the entire local firefly population flashes in the same rhythm, creating a stunning spectacle that is popular with tourists. The most well-known location to witness these displays is on the Selangor River at Kampong Kuantan, Malaysia.

While Curtos certainly stands apart from the other genera, its precise relationships are far less resolvable than the placement as a distinct tribe presumes; it appears to share more autapomorphies with Atyphella and especially Pygoluciola – both were for some time included in Luciola – than with other genera, but whether this means an evolutionarily closer relationship (rendering the Curtosini invalid) remains to be tested.[2]